Timothy’s Londis Plus in Abbeytown, Roscommon celebrated 20 years in business in 2019, and while 2020 has been extremely challenging, the family-run supermarket has continued to offer an essential service for the people of Roscommon town.
Annie Timothy runs the local Londis with husband Vincent and they are ably supported by a dedicated staff of around 40.
Timothy’s has become an integral part of the Roscommon business community over the last 21 years, and Annie and Vincent’s partnership has not only flourished in Abbeytown, but it also began there too.
“I’m from Mullingar and Vincent is from Glinsk,” Annie explains, “A friend of mine brought me to a race dance at the Abbey Hotel some years ago and introduced me to Vincent and I’ve had no complaints since then!”
Annie says: “We have a team that runs the shop: Vincent, our manager Mike Crean, and myself, but we also have great staff and a loyal core staff who we rely on to run the various departments. We have Pat Beirne our butcher, Michelle McGovern who looks after our dairy and fresh food section, Paula Hegarty at the front of the shop, and Donal Fallon on fruit and veg.
“We tend to have our core staff with us for a long time but we also have staff who come into us in transition year in secondary school and who work with us right the way through school. We have put a lot of kids through college, which is fantastic. You can see the difference the work makes in these kids. Our staff teaches them of course but dealing with the public helps them to develop communication skills as well as customer service skills too”.
A recent revamp has not only resulted in a modern lay-out but also a safer working and shopping environment during these days of Covid-19.
A newsagents and off-licence, complete with a great wine selection, is located at the front entrance while there are shelves of dry goods, breads, sauces, confectionery, and household items at the heart of the store.
Towards the back, where there is another entrance which leads to a spacious carpark, there is also a full deli serving hot and cold food as well as a butchers and fishmonger. A seating area is tucked away in the corner for when things return to normal and a dairy and fresh food section takes up an entire wall.
“The revamp focussed on food and goods that people pick up and bring home for dinner. We have handy meals like lasagne, shepherd’s pie, lamb shank, quiche, you can even have duck for dinner! This takes away a lot of the hassle when it comes to preparing meals in the evening,” Annie adds.
With Christmas fast approaching, Annie says that Timothy’s Londis has everything local shoppers need.
“We have the whole offering for Christmas including hams and turkeys, Christmas cakes and desserts and of course all the fresh vegetables you could need.
“Our ham comes from a great local producer, Waldron’s of Brideswell, and we have home-baked ham to make Christmas dinner easier for our customers.
“We also offer hampers and gift vouchers which have become really popular gifts and can make a massive difference to someone at this time of year,” she said.
Timothy’s are also offering a chance for customers to get €80 off their Christmas Week shop by collecting 800 Smart Rewards points in store.
As well as impeccable safety standards, Covid-19 has also led to the introduction of a click and collect service at Timothy’s which can be found at mylondisshop.com/timothys.
Annie believes this new service has allowed customers to keep safe while keeping it local this year.
“Roscommon is a great business town and people are very good at supporting local. It’s so important to people that they actually consider where they spend their money. If you support your own, your own will support you. With our revamp I think we are offering people what they want.
“Of course it helps when you have a brilliant staff too, and during this pandemic they have been looking after the people who have looked after us over the past 21 years,” she said.
*Timothy’s Londis in Abbeytown is open Monday to Saturday from 7.30 am to 10 pm, Sundays from 8 am to 10 pm, and Bank Holidays from 9 am to 8 pm. The shop is also open on St. Stephen’s Day.
